Category: The Melbourne Files

In 1993, the world’s biggest band came to Melbourne: this is Guns n’ Roses at Calder Park, an event that would go down in local infamy.

Standing atop a building in Abbotsford is one of Melbourne’s most iconic symbols; the Skipping Girl Vinegar sign. And for a piece of neon, this girl has led an eventful life.

Evan Dando was an indy rock star with a well-known drug problem, His 2003 meltdown at a gig in Melbourne became the stuff of local music legend.

It has Moorish turrets, a Greco-Roman interior, and a fake sky, and it was a church and a cinema. This is, The Forum Theatre.

Quirky statues, lush forest, a labyrinth of stone pathways; The William Ricketts Sanctuary is an artistic legacy unlike any other.

The Builders Arms in Collingwood is a popular local pub. It also played a key role in the history of Melbourne, and the push for Indigenous rights.

The Yarra River is an intrinsic part of Melbourne;  but did you know its current course is a man-made construct, very different to how it flowed out to sea originally?

Victoria’s first amusement park was the ‘Cremorne Pleasure Garden’ on the banks of the Yarra, the lifelong dream of an obsessive English confectioner.

The first exhibition at the NGV was a bold choice: strange, cutting edge art from a group of unknown artists. Welcome to ‘The Field’ show.

Melbourne was once the home of the world’s biggest bookstore, home to more than a million books. Welcome to Cole’s Book Arcade.